KUALA LUMPUR (July 1): Private equity firm Creador is threatening legal action against Meta if it does not take the issue of scammers seriously, as it slammed the social media giant for being too slow in taking down fraudulent posts from its platforms.

This, said Creador's founder Brahmal Vasudevan in a statement, is making vulnerable Malaysians the victims of scammers.

He said scammers are impersonating him, Creador and its non-profit Creador Foundation to lure social media users through sponsored posts promoting investment seminars and offering investment advice.

“Vulnerable people, especially the elderly, are losing money to these scams. They must be protected from scammers who are allowed to advertise on these platforms. We are concerned that Meta is not cracking down hard enough. Allowing these sponsored posts to be published is unacceptable,” Brahmal said.

“Meta has profited from these frauds by allowing sponsored posts which impersonate Creador and other organisations and well-known figures. Creador has already issued a letter of demand to Meta, and if it does not take this seriously, we will take legal action,” he added.

Brahal said Creador first reported these fraudulent posts on Meta's platforms, which contained links which directed victims to a WhatsApp chat with someone impersonating him, in March.

“The impersonator would later share links which ostensibly promote an upcoming initial public offering but actually direct victims to a fraudulent website where they are asked to transfer funds to accounts of companies unrelated to Creador.

“Meta has not acted quickly enough to remove all such posts despite Creador’s reports and complaints through the channels on Facebook and Instagram, which found its own Facebook page had been suspended instead with no reason given.

“Meta is not responsive enough to complaints of impersonation and scams. Its system for reporting such cases is ineffective. Meta has failed to even enforce its own Community Standards which prohibit impersonation,” said Brahmal.

He alleged that Facebook had initially concluded that the fraudulent posts Creador reported were “content which doesn’t go against our Community Standards”, and that some fraudulent posts were only removed after Creador appealed to Meta’s Oversight Board.

Since the partial removal of reported posts in April, Facebook has published new sponsored posts with similar or identical impersonations in June, he said.

“They should have the technology to clamp down systematically to ensure scam advertisements are not repeatedly posted,” he added.

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